John Reece Miller, 16, of Linden was the talk of the Kensington Junior Tour’s Hudson Mills Open after scoring a hole-in-one on the 192-yard fourth hole in Dexter on Thursday.

No one was more surprised than Miller himself.

“Right off the tee, I knew I hit a great shot. I watched it roll. It just rolled. I thought it disappeared off the green,” said Miller, an incoming junior at Lake Fenton High School. “It turned out to be in the hole. It feels pretty great, honestly.”

Miller went on to shoot 88 for the round.

“It was really difficult to stay focused after that,” he added. “I’ve been dealing with back problems; so I was really happy about today.”

Kensington, now in its 11th year, is the leading affordable junior golf in southeast Michigan, hosting 27 tournaments in Livingston, Washtenaw, Oakland and, as of this summer, Wayne County. For a full tournament schedule, visit kensingtonjuniortour.com.

In an effort to support junior golf, the Livonia-based Dinan Foundation is offering five $1,000 academic scholarships to 2016 high school graduates. Aug. 1 is the deadline for high school coaches to nominate their male/female student-athletes.

“The courses like having us, and the kids,” Kensington Tour director Ethan Hawker said. “It’s an introduction to entry-level competitive golf. The tour has expanded, and it’s great for kids who want to play golf that’s local, affordable and fun.”

Shooting 79 and deadlocked for first in the boys’ 15-18-year-old division at eight over par were George Rodopoulos of Taylor; Lucas DeRosia of Grass Lake, and Andrew Lack of Northville. Lack, who will be a junior at Novi Detroit Catholic Central, parred the playoff hole to capture the victory.

“I had a tough start today, but I picked it up on the back nine,” said Lack, 16. “I had a couple of birdies on the back nine.” Sudden death went like clockwork. “I hit a good drive, a good second shot and two-putted.”

DeRosia said, “My first five holes were a little rough, but I finished pretty strong with a 40. On the back nine, I started with a bogey, birdie, bogey. I had a double (bogey) on one of the last holes and ended with two pars for a boring 79, but it felt good.”

Rodopoulus said his strong suits were his putting and chipping. “I need to work on consistency and getting the ball out there. The playoff was brutal.”

Kendall Payne, a 2016 graduate of Livonia Franklin, won the girls’ 15-18-year-old division with an 86, followed by Madison Maurier, also of Livonia, who shot 90.

“I hit the ball pretty solid. I had a few unlucky breaks with trees and with hazards, but had a pretty good day,” said Payne, who will compete for University of Detroit Mercy in the fall.

Payne was happy to win after placing second, despite shooting 79, at Kensington’s recent Coyote Junior Open in South Lyon.

“I’m glad I won today. I like the Kensington Tour; there are a lot of great people,” Payne said. “It’s run very well. I like the pairings and how they run the tour. And I like the courses we play on.”

Maurier, who will be a senior at Livonia Stevenson in the fall, said she started off okay, but a few mental mistakes off the tee hurt her.

“It didn’t go super great, but I had some good shots,” said Maurier, who shot 44 on the front nine and 46 on the back. “I really like this course. It’s easy to make mistakes and still have good shots to the green.”

Vimal Alokam of Ypsilanti shot 81 to capture the boys’ 12-14-year-old age division. A.J. Mitchell of Chelsea was runner-up with an 85.

Brian Tillman of Gregory celebrated his 10th birthday in sudden death with Vibhav Alokam, 9, of Ypsilanti, after the two tied for first in the 9-hole division with scores of 48. Alokam parred the playoff hole for the victory.

Tillman, with two playoffs already this season, was happy with his mid-range iron shots. “On the second hole, I hit my 8-iron and it went 6-7 feet away from the hole,” Tillman said. “This course is cool. The greens are really fast.”